Jury Awards $1.6 Million In Lehigh Twp. Teen's Death

September 19, 1985|The Morning Call

A Northampton County jury yesterday awarded a 57-year-old Lehigh Township woman $1.6 million in the death of her daughter in a 1983 traffic accident in Northampton.

The jury of six men and six women, who heard testimony at a proceeding presided over by Judge Robert A. Freedberg, deliberated for about two hours before returning the award to Mae J. Wilt, of 1306 Riverview Drive.

Wilt's daughter, Irma Herman, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene of the Nov. 4 accident on Route 329 in Northampton. The driver of the car in which she was riding, Terry DeLong, pleaded guilty last June to involuntary manslaughter and homicide by motor vehicle.

DeLong, 22, was sentenced by Judge Richard D. Grifo to a two-to four-year jail term, which he is serving in Northampton County Prison.

Prosecutors said DeLong was driving 70 mph in a 35-mph zone when the car he was driving struck a bridge abutment, skidded across the highway, struck a utility pole and split in half. Miss Herman's body was found under the rear part of the car, 16 feet away from the pole.

Miss Herman had left school three years before her death to care for her mother, who has diabetes and complications of the disease, including blindness. Mrs. Wilt's attorneys, Gus Milides and Alfred P. Antonelli, said the young woman was her mother's "cook, baker, dishwasher, dietician, chambermaid, housemaid, nurse, seamstress, purchasing agent and laundress. They estimated the cost of replacing her services at $373,522.

The jury awarded Mrs. Wilt $1,506,927 in wrongful death benefits, and $115,669 in survival benefits.